Deacons’ Cover Blown
Well, the Deacons’ days of lurking outside the Top 25 appear over. It’s hard to dismiss 18-5, four game winning streak, six wins in seven games, all in ACC play.
I know how the polls work. Get ranked up there early, and it takes a month’s worth of losses and a court order to get you out. Show up for practice after the early departure of the two top scorers to the NBA off a team that lost in the first round to a 13th seed and you’d have to do something unheard of like beating Gonzaga at Gonzaga to get consideration.
Or something like that.
This team is far easier to underestimate than it is to beat. Most teams built on defense and rebounding are. In that regard, I considered it fitting that Dave Odom happened to be in town to commentate on TV for the first time at Joel Coliseum. I got lucky enough to run into him yesterday at practice and we shared some belly laughs with Craig Zakrzewski, the basketball equipment manager, and Lynne Heflin, whose title of administrative assistant cleverly conceals the real role she’s played now for 24 years as the brain trust and conductor of the whole operation. This year’s team plays the game the way some of Odom’s best teams played it. Obviously there’s no Tim Duncan on the court, and if you want to quibble, this team is more uptempo than most of the ones coached by Odom. Only four of Dave’s 12 teams averaged anywhere close to the 75 points a game this team is averaging, and five straight (1996-2000) averaged fewer than 70. But every point the opponent doesn’t score is as important as every point you score, and Coach Dino Gaudio’s philosophy of defense and his ability to implement that philosophy is far closer to the that of Odom than to his mentor and former boss, Skip Prosser.
Unlike Prosser, who in his constant quest to force tempo extended his defense and preyed on passing lanes, Odom built a wall around the basket, baseline out. I never heard him call it a Pack Line defense, the term that has been attached to the defense Wake now plays, but the core principals and concepts are at the very least similar. This team isn’t pretty. Most of Odom’s teams weren’t pretty. At the risk of repeating myself, teams built on defense and rebounding—the kind that win by holding the opponent to no field goals in the final 8:50 and without any points over 13 of the final 14 possessions, as the Deacons did tonight—rarely are.
But, in theory at least, they should be well-suited for post-season play when the pressures and uncertainty of the proceedings have a tendency to tighten teams up. Looks like we’ll get to test that theory in about a month. In the meantime, the Deacons have blown their cover. They’re in second in the ACC, a game behind Duke, and they’re carrying some serious momentum into Tuesday’s game at Virginia Tech. They’re bona fide.
And come the next poll, they’ll be nationwide.
Back to the main page.
By Dan Collins on 02/14/2010 (3:35 am)
Comments
Well, we cracked the top 25 in the AP (23) and ESPN/USA Today (25) polls. It feels somewhat anti-climactic to me, and I hope that the team would describe it that way as well. They certainly deserve the affirmation that they are on the right track, but I think that this group can accomplish a lot more this year.
The good news is that I think they understand what complacency can do to a team, especially the guys who were around for last season’s second half debacle.
And the Georgia Tech game was a great springboard into the top 25. I could nitpick about how we kept them in the game in the first half with poor perimeter defense and stupid fouls, but I am encouraged by the way we clamped down on defense down the stretch and finally complemented that defensive intensity with controlled aggressiveness on offense to put them away.
Congratulations on cracking the top 25! Just in time for the real season to start!
DC on 02/15/2010 (5:31 pm)
Good point on the RPI, Dave O. Good mantra, Lee—tough D and rebounding.
A few observations from Sat. night: is anything more frustrating than when the road team seemingly is getting all the ticky-tack fouls to go their way and all 3 attempts to go down?!? Love Ari’s fearlessness—it makes me think he’s ready to bust some zones in postseason play! Also, one Timmy D-like move in the lane by T. Woods makes me think our future starting center could be ready to blossom. As for Ish, it’s definitely how you finish, but in the 1st half was he neutralized by Tech or just too conservative (similar to first matchup in the ATL)?
Keep it going, Deacs!
Lee, B. on 02/15/2010 (1:03 pm)
I always worry a bit when talk of “ranking” starts. How long was Wake No. 1 when Chris Paul played so well? Better to challenge our guys than pat them on the back. Stick to tough defense and rebounding. You have what it takes to win. Keep working hard.
Lee Anglin on 02/14/2010 (2:18 pm)
Polls are good for national publicity and recognition, but for an accurate, clinical, and unbiased analysis I trust the rpi rankings, where we’ve been in the top 20 for weeks.
Dave O on 02/14/2010 (2:10 pm)
Country,
Hope they do not get in the top 25…much better in the Cinderella role…Told you early in the season that this team has unlimited potential. What they lack in talent, they make up in attitude, desire and cohesiveness. Look for this team to make a “deep run” in the NCAA’s…Love to see them meet Duke in the ACC tournament on a neutral court!!!
BTW, With approx. 1:12 on the clock last PM still do not see how Ish made that layup and Harris’s soon to follow under the basket conversion…The Basketball Gods are obviously smiling down on the team now…
Tom on 02/14/2010 (12:01 pm)
I hate to see us ranked! I think we’re better being a team that lurks in the shadows, underestimated by everyone and the underdog in each game. But these guys deserve it! What they have accomplished this year is simply awesome! I just hope there’s enough left in the tank to carry us through another 6-7 weeks!
Ken Green on 02/14/2010 (11:09 am)
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